Nokia Lumia 625 Green – Hands On, First Impressions

The Lumia 625 was announced back in July and signalled a significant shift in the Lumia Windows Phone range – as the first device to sport a screen larger than 4.5 inches, it bought about the start of Nokia’s diversification of its Lumia Windows Phone range.

The large screen signals that Nokia is now ready to shift their design to multiple screen sizes and with the rumoured Lumia 1520 phablet set for launch next month, we took a look at Nokia’s latest big screen smartphone. First up is a midnight unboxing on the London Underground tube –

Let’s start with one of the biggest reasons to buy the Lumia 625 – at £230 SIM free, it is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, 4G smartphone on the market. We’ve done some testing and the Lumia 625 has a pretty impressive 4G LTE antenna, on par with the results of our 4G Head to Head comparisons featuring the Lumia 925. We’ve also found that the Lumia 625 has a strong antenna for call quality with no issues reported on 19 of the calls we made as part of our initial testing.

On the back of the Lumia 625 is a 5MP camera with single LED flash – although there is no PureView camera technology included here, the Lumia 625 camera is satisfactory during day light but less than impressive in low light conditions. The Lumia 625 captures Full HD 1080p video at 30 frames per second and the front camera capture VGA photos.

The front of the Lumia 625 sports the 4.7 inch IPS display – the display sports WVGA resolution (that’s 800 x 480 pixels) and offers 201 pixel per inch density. Although the display is satisfactory, we would have liked to have seen Nokia squeeze a 720p HD screen into the 625, although the increase in the price may have been a factor against this.

Is the large screen needed? Most definitely – although the Lumia 625 is not a flagship high-end phone (it’s very much targeted towards the mid-range market), it signals that Nokia is ready to start experimenting with bigger screens.

Typing on the Lumia 625 has been an absolute joy – the Windows Phone 8 OS comes with a pretty impressive keyboard but often felt a little cramped on smaller Lumia devices. With the larger and wider screen, the keyboard expands a little and makes typing an absolute breeze – how do we know this? All the text in this post was written from the Lumia 625 using one hand whilst travelling on a train!

The extra screen real estate is great for internet browsing as well and with the addition of changeable back covers, you have the option to customise your phone (and accent colours) to suit your mood on any particular day.

Overall the Lumia 625 isn’t the best smartphone on the market – that’s for certain but it offers a very impressive package at the incredibly low price of £250-£280 SIM free. For an unlocked 4G smartphone, this is an absolute bargain, especially as the rear polycarbonate shell has a smooth velvety finish, the antenna is strong and the keyboard is fantastic.

Disclaimer – all the text was written on the Lumia 625 using one hand. However the images, in-text links and formatting happened after using a computer.